Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

Porsche 356A/1500GS Carrera GT

INTRODUCTION:Porsche offered two distinct versions of the Carrera, one called the de Luxe for the street and this model, the Gran Turismo, for the track. The main difference between the two models was weight.

HIGHLIGHTS:The Carrera GT was a purpose-built car with little on board amenities. For instance, no heater was fitted giving the car its 'icebox' nickname. Furthermore, the interior was stripped of sound deadening, side windows were replaced by pull-up Perspex units and only simple door panels were fitted.

FEATURES:

• Mechanically, the GT model was only slightly more powerful than the de Luxe, having sports muffler which provided little deadening and no heater. At the front, a 21 gallon tank was fitted instead of the 13.8 gallon unit.
• Front braking was provided by 550RS units that were 10mm thicker and had cooling scoops. The torsion bars were also changed at the rear to provide one degree of negative camber.
• Offered as both Coupe and Speedster the GT version was considerably lighter than any previous 356. The weight was 1903 lbs for coupe and 1848 for the speedster. Naturally performance values were slightly different between the two versions.

DESIGN:Aluminum was also used in the bucket seat frames, two piece wheels with allow insert and aluminum trim strips for the front/rear bumpers. Less than 10 of these models were offered with quad-cam engines.